RAMALLAH, June 5 (JMCC) - Palestinian factions responded sharply Sunday to President Mahmoud Abbas' acceptance of a French initiative to restart Palestinian-Israeli peace talks,
reports Xinua.
Salah al-Bardaweel, a senior Hamas leader in the Gaza Strip, told Xinhua that Abbas' acceptance of the French initiative was a hasty step, it is a wrong step and meaningless. It would again bring us to an empty circle of absurd talks that will again hurt the internal Palestinian unity.
What is needed is that Abbas should immediately stop making unilateral decisions. He should consult with the other political powers and factions if he is really committed to the signed reconciliation agreement, said al-Bardaweel, referring to the reconciliation deal signed in Cairo on May 4.
Dawood Shihab, spokesman of the Islamic Jihad movement, told Xinhua that getting back again to debate and discuss the resumption of ill negotiations with Israel means returning again to the empty circle, to the waste of time and serving Israel's interests.
A senior leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, Emad Abu Rahma, said in a press statement that the French initiative aims at blocking the Palestinians from applying to the United Nations.
In the latest proposal, Israeli and Palestinian leaders would meet for talks in France after agreeing to halt unilateral steps.
Negotiations to resolve the Mideast conflict have been stalled for more than a year over Israel's insistence on continuing its construction of settlements in the Palestinian areas it occupied in 1967.
In light of the freeze in talks, Palestinians are planning to seek United Nations approval of a state in September. France seeks to head off the bid, which could prove embarrassing for it and other security council members forced to take sides on the measure.